National
Airlines
National Airlines began in 1934 as an airmail carrier,
flying mail between St. Petersburg and Daytona Beach. The
founder, G.T. Baker operated two Ryan aircraft. In the mid
30's, National Airlines began expanding its mail route.
Entering World War II, National Airlines contracted by the
Air Transport Command began providing pilot training and
transporting aircraft and military troops. This provided
revenue that the airline needed to remain viable. At that
time Americans were not travelling due to the war. In 1944,
National Airlines was awarded passenger routes between New
York and Florida operating DC-4's. By 1946, National
Airlines was awarded routes from Miami to Havana, Cuba and
Miami, Tampa to New Orleans. National continued to grow by
the 1950's it was providing night and excursion flights at
cheap rates. By the 1970's, National installed a multi
million dollar computer reservation system. This allowed
National the competitive edge. Passengers could book their
flights over the telephone with ease. National also began
providing non-stop service from Miami to London. Throughout
the 70's, National expanded its passenger routes. It began
to services Paris, Frankfurt and Amsterdam. National Was
also breaking into the Caribbean markets with flights to San
Juan.
During the late 70's and
80's it was a very turbulent time for the survivability of
airlines. Airlines were swallowing other airlines, take over
and merges were occurring daily. In 1980, Pan Am took
control of National Airlines through the purchasing of
stocks. This was a take over that was not foreseen and it
was considered to be a hostile one.
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